Donald Trump wins South Carolina Republican primary, NBC News projects

Former
President
Donald
Trump
has
won
the
South
Carolina
Republican
primary,
defeating
the
state’s
former
governor,
Nikki
Haley,
NBC
News
projects.

South
Carolina’s
polls
closed
at
7
p.m.
ET,
and
Trump’s
victory
was
projected
by
networks
and
wire
services
within
minutes.

“This
was
a
lot
sooner
than
we
anticipated,”
Trump
said
at
a
party
in
Columbia,
South
Carolina
following
the
results.
“It’s
an
early
evening
and
fantastic
one.”

Trump’s
widely
expected
win
further
cements
his
status
as
the
likely
Republican
nominee,
though
he
still
needs
a
total
of
1,215
delegates
to
officially
secure
the
nomination. 

Until
then,
Haley
is
determined
to
keep
the
GOP
primary
a
two-person
race. 

On
Tuesday,
Haley
pledged
to
stay
on
the
campaign
trail
through
Super
Tuesday
on
March
5,
even
if
she
lost
her
home
state’s
Saturday
primary. After
losing
to
Trump
on
Saturday,
Haley
doubled
down
on
that
promise.

“I
said
earlier
this
week
that
no
matter
what
happens
in
South
Carolina,
I
would
continue
to
run
for
president,”
Haley
said
in
Charleston,
South
Carolina,
after
Trump’s
projected
victory.
“I’m
a
woman
of
my
word.”

She
added
that
she
would
be
campaigning
in
Michigan
on
Sunday
and
in
various
Super
Tuesday
states
throughout
the
coming
week.

Haley’s
campaign
confirmed
that
she
has
the
funding
to
keep
her
afloat
after
a
record
fundraising
month
in
January.

“We
have
the
resources
to
go
the
distance,”
a
spokesperson
for
Haley’s
campaign
told
CNBC
on
Tuesday.

The
former
U.N.
ambassador
has
yet
to
win
a
race
this
primary
season,
though
she
managed
to
pull
out
a
slimmer
loss
against
Trump
in

New
Hampshire
due
to
the
state’s
wide
population
of
undeclared
voters.

Going
into
Saturday’s
primary,
South
Carolina
was
much
less
undecided.

Trump
held
a
roughly
30-point
lead
against
Haley,
according
to
a
February
survey
from
USA
Today
and
Suffolk
University,
disintegrating
any
hopes
of
her
home-court
advantage.

Trump
also
had
the
endorsements
of
local
South
Carolina
GOP
chapters,
South
Carolina
Governor
Henry
McMaster,
South
Carolina
Rep.
Nancy
Mace
and
other
lawmakers
in
the
state.
Trump
also
has
a
healthy
track
record
in
the
Palmetto
State,
having
won
the
GOP
primary
in
2016
and
taking
55%
of
the
votes
in
2020
against
Joe
Biden.

Where
are
the
candidates
on
South
Carolina’s
top
issues?

South
Carolinians
had
immigration
and
the
economy
top
of
mind
as
they
cast
their
ballots,
mirroring
sentiments
nationwide.
According
to
the
February
USA
Today/Suffolk
University
poll,
42%
of
likely
South
Carolina
GOP
voters
viewed
immigration
as
the
most
important
issue,
while
26%
prioritize
the
economy.

Trump
has
made
immigration
a
central
pillar
of
his
campaign
so
far,
pledging
to
revive
his
immigration
bans
and
execute
militarized
mass
deportations
that
he
intends
to
make
far
more
aggressive
than
his
first
term
in
the
White
House.

“The
first
thing,
the
most
urgent
action
we
will
take
is
the
sealing
of
the
border,
stopping
the
invasion,”
Trump
said
Saturday
afternoon
at
the
Conservative
Political
Action
Conference,
or
CPAC.
“Send
Joe
Biden’s
illegal
aliens
back
home,
we’ll
do
all
of
those
things
and
we’re
gonna
have
to
do
it
fast.”

Despite
his
extreme
anti-immigrant
rhetoric
and
approach
to
border
security,
Trump
simultaneously
worked
behind
the
scenes
to
tank
a
bipartisan
congressional
border
deal
that
would
have
provided

$20
billion
of
border
security
funding.

Trump
reportedly
told
Republican
lawmakers
to
torpedo
the
bill
so
that
he
could
continue
lambasting
Biden
and
Haley
for
their
immigration
stances
on
the
campaign
trail.

Haley

criticized
Trump
for
derailing
the
bill:
“Donald
Trump,
the
last
thing
he
needs
to
do
is
tell
them
to
wait
to
pass
the
border
deal
until
the
election.”

Haley
herself
has
a
hardline
immigration
record,
despite
the
Trump
campaign’s
attempts
to
paint
her
as
weak
on
the
issue.
She
said
she
would
defund
sanctuary
cities,
close
the
border
and
deport
unauthorized
immigrants.

Under
the
Biden
administration,
South
Carolina’s
economy
has
improved.

Unemployment
in
the
state
is
at
3%,
down
from
3.3%
a
year
ago
and
under
the
national
average
of
3.7%.
The
state
also
was
a
major
beneficiary
of
Biden’s

Inflation
Reduction
Act
(IRA),
which
poured
investment
into
electric
vehicles
that
has
created
more
than
12,000
jobs
so
far.

Inflation
in
the
state
is
slowly
cooling
at
4.3%
compared
to
the
national
rate
of
3.1%.

However,
both
Trump
and
Haley
have
repeatedly
slammed
Biden’s
economy.
Their
economic
agendas
both
tend
to
include
similar
rhetoric
of
cracking
down
on
trade
with
China
and
cutting
taxes.

Haley’s
economic
platform,
dubbed
the

Freedom
Plan,
is
centered
around
tax
breaks
for
the
middle
class,
boosting
small
businesses
and
eliminating
Biden’s
$500
billion
investment
in
clean
energy
projects,
which
South
Carolina
has
benefited
from.

Trump
would
also
roll
back
Biden’s
IRA,
reinstate
his
first-term

tax
cuts,
which
for
the
most
part
benefited
the
wealthy,
and
impose
major
tax
increases
on
foreign
goods,
specifically
to
restrict
trade
with

China.
During
his
first
term,
Trump’s
China
tariffs
nearly
started
a
trade
war,
which
disrupted
the
global
economy
and
drove
prices
higher
for
consumers.